


couch surfin'

by orphan_account



Series: how (not) to adult [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/M, Gajeel & Natsu & Cobra are all flatmates, imagine the chaos just fuckin imagine it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 15:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6615256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The unknown woman suddenly makes a triumphant noise as she hops down from the counter clutching a box of Cheerios tightly to her chest.</p><p>A box of Honey Nut Cheerios.</p><p><i> His </i> Honey Nut Cheerios.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Over his dead-fucking body.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	couch surfin'

Gajeel wakes up to find someone rummaging through his kitchen.

That in itself isn’t all that strange considering he does, reluctantly, have two flatmates. But, last time he checked anyway, both his flatmates are male, while the person currently rifling through their cupboards like they own the place is decidedly  _not_.

Again, that’s not all that strange either.

Both Flatmate #1 (also fondly known as Dick #1) and Flatmate #2 (also fondly known as The Bane of his Existence) have girlfriends they insist on bringing over all the damn time, so he’s more than used to waking up occasionally to find either girlfriend lounging around the flat in a shirt that’s too big for them or singing obnoxiously in the shower.

But, and this is where the _real_ problem lies, he doesn’t recognise the woman in front of him. Short with messy blue hair still mussed from sleep and dressed in a tatty old t-shirt and a pair of shorts, she’s definitely not the girlfriend of either of his flatmates.

He leans against the door frame, arms crossed lazily over his chest, watching curiously as the unknown woman suddenly hops onto the kitchen counter in an attempt to get a clearer look inside their cereal cupboard.

Admittedly, it’s a fairly strange start to his day and he finds himself wondering if maybe he’s witnessing a robbery. A very terrible robbery when you consider there’s a flatscreen TV and more games consoles than they actually need sitting in the living room, but a robbery all the same.

The unknown woman suddenly makes a triumphant noise as she hops down from the counter clutching a box of Cheerios tightly to her chest.

A box of Honey Nut Cheerios.

 _His_ Honey Nut Cheerios.

_Over his dead-fucking body._

Almost as if his body is working on autopilot over the horror of seeing someone dumb enough to dare try and steal his Honey Nut Cheerios from him, he’s striding across the kitchen and yanking the box out of her hands before he even has the chance to actually consider his actions.

She whirls around, squawking in surprise as he tugs the box from her hands and shoves it back into the cupboard, very pointedly slamming the door shut as he goes.

“I—”

“Those are mine,” he says with probably more gruffness than she deserves, but it’s still early in the morning and he’s still a little bit confused as to who she is and why she’s rummaging through his cupboards like she owns the place.

She nods, blinking owlishly up at him, her lips curving slowly upwards into a small smile. “You must be Gajeel, right?”

He nods and takes a step backwards so he’s not hovering over her, pushing her up against the counter. If he’s honest with himself, he’s more than a little confused. Judging by the use of his name, she’s not some random (awful) robber, and actually knows at least one of his flatmates, but he’s fairly certain he’s never met her before. “And you are?”

“Oh!” She laughs and shakes her head, as if she’s admonishing herself for neglecting to introduce herself. “Levy. I’m Natsu’s friend.”

He nods again and takes a step backwards, preparing to leave the kitchen and retire back to his bedroom now that he knows who she is and that she doesn’t pose a threat to his Honey Nut Cheerios stash anymore. 

“Thank you _sooooo_ much for letting me stay here.”

He freezes on the spot, mouth falling open slack as he watches her press her palms together and bow her head in gratitude.

“I was so worried I’d be homeless, you know? But don’t worry, it won’t be for long and I won’t make a mess an—”

For the second time that morning, Gajeel’s body works on autopilot. He closes the small space between them and presses his hand over her mouth, eliciting a surprised “ _mmph_?” from her.

“What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?”

Almost as if he’d been waiting for his cue, a loud bang, that sounds suspiciously like a door being slammed open, reverberates through the tiny flat, followed by hurried footsteps rushing down the corridor and then—

“ _Gajeel_ , you’re up early,” Natsu (Flatmate #2/The Bane of his Existence) laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck as his gaze drifts from Gajeel to Levy (who wiggles her fingers at him) and back to Gajeel again. “Um. Why— Why are you smothering Levy?”

Levy laughs as Gajeel hastily drops his hand from her mouth before crossing the kitchen in two quick strides to tower ominously over Natsu. “Explain.”

“Her apartment block flooded so I said she could crash on our couch while she’s waiting for it to get fixed,” Natsu says sheepishly, purposely avoiding Gajeel’s gaze. “Is that alright?”

“Some warning would’ve been nice.”

“I _did_  text you about it,” Natsu sniffs, somewhat defensively. “Maybe if you’d just unblock me—”

“No.”

Gajeel fights back a shudder as he remembers just _why_ he had to block Natsu. _And_ Bixlow. 500 unread messages in the groupchat. All of them memes or puns. 

 _All of them_.

How do two people even come upwith so many puns?

Never again.

Natsu rolls his eyes but doesn’t push the matter, instead he glances over at Levy and shoots her an apologetic smile before turning his attention back to Gajeel. “So, you’re alright with her staying?”

Gajeel glances back at Levy, grimacing a little when she sticks her tongue out at him and flashes him the peace sign.

“Just don’t eat my Cheerios,” he grunts before brushing past Natsu, purposely bumping their shoulders together, so he can make his way back to his bedroom.

He’s halfway down the corridor when he hears Natsu dramatically sigh in relief, followed by a laugh and a “ _thank you Gajeel!_ ” that comes from a voice too soft to be Natsu’s.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the course of her stay, Gajeel learns a lot about their new houseguest. 

Her name is Levy McGarden, they go to the same university, and she’s in her second year of her Linguistics degree. The only reason she knows Natsu is because, on his first day, he walked into the wrong lecture theatre and sat next to her for a full 45 minutes before he realised that _maybe_ he’d made a mistake.

She’s very smart - like _ridiculously_ smart - making her degree look like a walk in the park when he’s heard horror stories about her strict and hard to please her module leader is. 

She snorts sometimes when she laughs, her nose wrinkles up and she throws her head back as the weird, oddly cute, sound erupts from her nostrils.

She has a thing for Cheerios though, thankfully, not _his_ Cheerios. After the incident on the first day, she goes out to the store a brings back a box of her own, winking at him when she slides it into the cupboard next to his.

She likes awful movies and has the terrible taste to rival Cobra’s (Flatmate #1/Dick #1), judging by the way she’s happy to squash up on the couch with him watching the _entire_ Tremors franchise one night without so much as the tiniest protest - something even Cobra’s girlfriend had refused to do.

She likes the opera, if the songs she belts out in the shower (stealing his shampoo in the process) is anything to go by. When she think nobody is paying attention, she likes to try and do the moonwalk across the kitchen floor (inevitably, Natsu spots her one day and it turns into a flatwide competition over who can do the best moonwalk - Cobra wins.)

And, most importantly, Gajeel _enjoys_ spending time with her.

Both Cobra and Natsu are out so they have the place to themselves and, for some reason, he’d allowed her to coax him into starting a Lord of the Rings marathon.

“There are _dragons_ ,” she’d said, wiggling her brows up and down conspiratorially, and he’d been sold. 

She’s slumped across the couch, legs slung over his lap as if it’s the most natural thing in the world and as if they hadn’t been complete strangers just two weeks ago.

It doesn’t feel like they’re strangers to him _either._ He feels like he’s spent countless evenings at the dining table with her, a pile of textbooks in front of them as they revise and prep for exams in a companionable silence, broken only to ask if someone wants some coffee or a snack or to groan about how fucking _hard_ their respective courses are.

He’s not sure what to do with his hands, so he settles for stiffly wrapping them over his chest.

“I got an email today,” she says suddenly, shifting a little on the couch to glance up at him. “Apparently my block has officially been deemed safe for re-entry.”

“Oh.”

He’s not entirely sure why that annoys him.

“Mmm, so I’ll be leaving probably tomorrow, or the day after.”

“Oh.”

She rolls her eyes and pokes him sharply in the chest with her big toe. “Is that all you can say, Gajeel?”

“Oh, that’s nice?”

She rolls her eyes again, but this time her lips twitch upwards into a smile Gajeel has become ridiculously fond of over the last two weeks. “I was going to ask— If you wanted to that is—” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “If maybe you wanted to hang out? After I’m gone?”

“Hang…out?”

“Only if you want!” She says quickly, face reddening slightly. “I just thought, maybe you’d like that? But if not don’t worry beca—”

“That’d be nice,” Gajeel mumbles, glancing away from her so she can’t see the blush that’s slowly creeping up over _his_ cheeks. “I’d like that.”

Hesitantly, he uncrosses his arms from over his chest and tentatively drops his hands to rest against her legs. 

“Nice,” she says quietly, and he doesn’t need to glance over at her to know that she’s _beaming_.

She’s right anyway.

It _is_ nice.

**Author's Note:**

> gajeel, natsu and cobra would make the greatest brotp, don't fight me on this


End file.
